Welcome to Enterprise Insights, where we deliver the most interesting enterprise developments and stories to you fortnightly.

Future

Ready to grow: business priorities for education and skills (CBI – PDF: 2.7 MB)

Young people leaving school or university equipped with the employability skills they need to succeed in the workplace should be the new government’s main priority on education and skills, according to the CBI’s 2010 education and skills survey. Demand for highly-skilled people will intensify during the recovery but half of employers are concerned that they will not be able to fill posts with the right candidates. The findings also suggest that career guidance given to school leavers should be improved and access to work experience and apprenticeship programmes simplified.

Now

Entrepreneurs: powering job creation (ITEM Club– PDF: 233 KB)

The UK’s fastest growing mid-sized companies generated nearly half of the 1.3m jobs created between 2005 and 2008, while companies with less than 50 employees accounted for just one-fifth, according to a report by the Ernst & Young ITEM Club. It suggests that the most economically significant high-growth companies have typically been in business for several years and reached an intermediate size of between 250 and 1,000 employees but that their role has been overlooked. The report recommends that government support is redirected towards mid-sized businesses.
 

The Gender Pay Gap in the UK: 1995 to 2007 (GEO – PDF: 452 KB)

The overall gender pay gap, measured in terms of the hourly earnings of all working men and women, has decreased from 24% between 1995-97 to 19% between 2004-7, according to the Government Equalities Office. The research found that even when variables such as work histories, education and sector were controlled for, 36% of the gender pay gap remained unexplained and a woman would still be likely to be paid significantly less than the average man.

Now and Future

Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow (UKCES – PDF: 1.4 MB)

Business services is one of three sectors, along with health and social care and retail, identified by the first National Strategic Skills Audit for England as being of growing economic significance but facing future skills deficiencies, according to a publication by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. The occupational structure in England is also expected to face long term structural changes with managers and professionals most likely to experience employment growth over the next ten years, while the numbers of administrative, skilled manual trade and operative jobs are likely to decline.

News

A third of entrepreneurs expect to hire staff this year and 66% expect their businesses to grow, according to a survey of 700 small businesses by Shell LiveWIRE. When asked how the recession had affected their businesses, 28% said it had inspired them to refocus on their vision for the business while a quarter said it had challenged them to identify new areas of growth.

There were 2.6 million unemployed and 2.8 million underemployed people in the UK in the last three months of 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics. 9.9% of the current workforce is working fewer hours than they would want to and around 3.4% of employed people’s hours are unutilised, showing the potential capacity in the economy.

To have a better chance of success, social enterprises should aim to tackle no more than one social problem, according to Doug Richard, founder of the School for Start-ups. Speaking at last week’s Shine Unconference, he argued that social enterprises need to be operated as sustainable businesses rather than charities and recruit committed employees rather than volunteers.

The Peter Jones Foundation has launched the Enterprise Business Challenge to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and firms with innovative business ideas to pitch them online. Entrants have until July 2 to submit a written online proposal or three-minute video pitch for a chance to win £10,000 in working capital as well as a full package of business support advice. 
 

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